Daddy's Girl
by xheart to thee
Summary: [Small Story] He envisioned her being a typical ‘daddy’s girl’ and he welcomed this feeling.  He knew from that moment he’d do anything for his daughter.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Daddy's Girl  
**Author:** xhearttothee, otherwise known as Molly  
**Feedback:** Feedback is loved. Constructive criticism is welcomed; just don't make it too harsh!  
**Timeline: **March 2008

**Status: **A one-shot on the aftermath of the birth of Piper and Leo's third child, Melinda.

**Author's Note:** I was bored and had nothing else better to do. So, it's not fantastic but I tried. I was thinking about doing a small piece on their daughter's first birthday too but we'll see what comes of this first.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Charmed, nor do I own any of the characters mentioned or involved. The lyrics at the top are from an amazing song by Dashboard Confessions called "Rooftops and Invitations".

* * *

_"To stay like this is everything you'll ever need."_

* * *

The small, pink, wrinkled baby girl lay wrapped in a pale pink blanket in the hospital crib, her eyes wide in wonderment. She was only a few hours old, yet she hadn't slept a wink. It seemed tiredness had yet to come over her.

"She's perfect," Leo, the proud father, said as he gazed down at his newborn daughter. He had only had a daughter for a few hours but already he loved her more than life itself.

"I can't believe she's still awake. I can see this being an interesting problem when she's a toddler," his wife joked. Piper was still pretty tired from giving birth to the 7lbs 3oz baby girl only hours beforehand. Although the doctors' had advised her to have a caesarean section due to the complications that had arisen in her previous pregnancy, she wanted to have a natural birth so she could see and hold her baby the moment they were born and feel that rush of love for this tiny, new person straight away. Her second child, Chris, had been born via c-section and she felt she had missed out on that. She loved her son more than anything but she felt she had been robbed of those first few precious bonding moments with her son when he was just minutes old. She knew there was complications with the labour so there was emergent need for the c-section but she still wished it had all turned out like she had planned. And she also had to admit, she had been somewhat jealous that Leo and her sisters had seen her new baby before her, his own mother.

She gazed down at the baby and watched the baby's eyes gaze up at her parents and smiled widely. She really was perfect.

"I wonder who she'll look like," Leo pondered, more to himself than Piper. He hoped she developed Piper's beautiful brown eyes and smile because each of those features belonging to his wife took his breath away, even after all this time.

"Who knows. Chris doesn't look like just one so maybe she will be a mixture too. Or maybe we'll end up with another blonde!" Piper smiled as she imagined a feminine version of their eldest child, Wyatt.

"Mmm," Leo murmured and then looked down at Piper. "Either way she'll be beautiful." He gave Piper one of his infamous smiles. The 100-watt smile that melted Piper's heart every time. He leant down and placed a soft kiss on her waiting lips and then pulled away but remained close so their noses were almost touching. "I love you," he said, just loud enough for Piper to hear. She still got a fluttering sensation inside every time she heard those words. Without pausing to contemplate her own reply, she said," I love you, too."

Leo smiled slightly and then kissed her again. He too loved the sound of those words and how they so easily rolled off her tongue. He hadn't loved her more than he had today after he saw his child being brought into the world. Holding the tiny baby just moments after she was born was breath taking. It brought back flashbacks of the first time he held Wyatt and Chris. Nothing could describe the feelings you get at those particular moments. They were memories that would stay with him for the rest of his life. Those feelings had all come back the moment he held his new daughter, however, holding his baby girl arose a different set of feelings. Of course, there were feelings of love, overwhelming and general amazement, but there were also feelings of fear and worry for this tiny baby girl. He supposed it was to do with the fact that she was a girl and she was his only daughter. He envisioned her being a typical 'daddy's girl' and he welcomed this feeling. He knew from that moment he'd do anything for his daughter.

"We still haven't settled on a name for her," Piper's soft voice said, breaking Leo from his thoughts.

"Well, we had a name chosen for a girl when Wyatt was born and as he turned out to be a boy we discarded the name, for obvious reasons," he smirked. He turned his gaze to the baby once more and smiled.

Piper looked down at the baby too and smiled. "Prudence Melinda," she said softly and reached out and gently brushed her hand over the top of the baby's head, her downy, brown hair feeling soft beneath her touch. The baby's eyes fluttered softly at the touch of her mother's hand and she then screwed her face up into a small, gummy yawn. "Melinda," Piper said finally.

"Knock, knock," a voice came from the door and Phoebe peered round the doorframe. "Can we come in? We have two little boys who are dying to meet their new sister."

Piper nodded in reply and smiled as she saw Phoebe open the door wider allowing Wyatt and Chris to come into the room. They each had a perplexed look on their innocent faces as they gazed around the room, but the look changed to a smile when they saw Piper in the bed. "Hey little guys," Piper said and she widened her smile when they rushed towards her. "Woah, easy," she said as they ran into the side of the bed. They looked up at Piper and smiled toothy grins and then saw Leo standing beside the crib.

"You wanna come and see your baby sister?" Leo asked and the youngsters nodded vigorously. "Then come on, but not too fast as you might knock the crib." They boys nodded seriously in reply and then tip toed around the bed towards the crib. They opened their mouths slightly in hesitation as they stood beside the crib. Wyatt peered in and widened his eyes as he looked down at the baby. Chris, however, pouted when he realised he was too small to see over. He was jealous that Wyatt got to see the baby and he didn't. He looked over to Piper and then to Leo.

"Daddy, lift him up so he can see too," Piper said to Leo and then smiled down at Chris who's pout immediately changed into a grin. Leo did as he was told and watched as Chris' face turned to the same expression Wyatt still had on his face the moment he saw the tiny baby in the crib.

"Is that my sister?" Chris asked quietly as he continued to stare the baby who was in turn looking up at them.

"Yeah, she is. She's your baby sister," Piper replied and then looked to Wyatt who was still staring at Melinda. "What do you think, Wyatt? Should we keep her?"

"Yeah, we should keep her. She looks much more fun than Chris," he answered with childhood innocence plastered all over his voice.

Chris looked up at the sound of his name and screwed his face up in confusion. "Is she called Chris too? But that's my name." He looked over to Piper for an answer.

"No, honey, her name's not Chris." Chris simply mouthed, "oh" in reply and then looked back at the baby.

"Well, does this little angel have a name yet?" Phoebe asked. Paige was now standing beside her after having just entered the room a few moments ago after having ringed around with the good news. They both headed to the crib to get their first glance of their baby niece.

"Yes, she does. This is Prudence Melinda," Piper said with a great sense of pride.

Phoebe looked to Piper and smiled, tears glistening in her eyes. They both shared a thought of their late sister and both knew how happy she'd be if she could have been there at that very moment.

"It's a beautiful name," Phoebe said and leant down to place a soft kiss on the little girl's head. "Hey, Melinda," she whispered and looked at the baby who looked up at her with wide eyes. She smiled down at her and then stood back up.

"Has she slept at all?" Paige asked as she looked down at the baby and noticed how awake she looked.

"Not a wink," Leo laughed.

"Awww, she's going to be a difficult one I see," Paige joked as she looked at Piper who smiled and then stifled a yawn. "Maybe we should go and let Piper sleep. We'll come back later. Besides, we still have to ring Victor. He wasn't in when I tried earlier."

"Yeah, you're right. You look wrecked, Piper. No offence," Phoebe smirked.

"None taken. I'll just wait and see what you look like after having been in labour for 6 hours," Piper said and then grinned at Phoebe. Phoebe rolled her eyes and then touched Wyatt's shoulder.

"C'mon buddy, we gotta let Mommy rest."

"I want to stay and watch," Wyatt whined as he looked up at his aunt Phoebe.

"We'll come back later. Mommy's very tired, and don't worry baby, Melinda will still be here when we come back. She's not going anywhere." Wyatt nodded and then looked to Piper.

"Don't sleep long, Mommy. I wanna come back soon," he said and then took Phoebe's hand. Piper laughed softly at her son and then yawned once more.

"C'mon Chris, we'll come back later," Paige said as she held out her hand for her nephew.

"No, I wanna stay," Chris said loudly and gripped his chubby hands onto the side of the crib, his knuckles turning white as he gripped harder.

"Chris, buddy, Mommy has to rest. You heard what aunt Phoebe said, we'll come back later when Mommy's not tired. C'mon, I'll get you some sweeties in the shop and we can watch _Spongebob _when we get home. Yeah?" Bribery always worked on Chris and he let go of the crib instantly and held his arms out to Piper.

"Hug?" He asked innocently and Piper happily obliged. She leant forward and wrapped her arms around her son and kissed the top of his head. "Bye Mommy. Bye baby sister," he said to Melinda in the crib and then took Paige's hand.

"We'll come back later, yeah?" Paige asked and Leo nodded in reply. Moments later it was just Piper, Leo and Melinda again.

"I wish Prue could see her," Piper said quietly and then looked to Leo. "It's moments like these that I miss her the most."

Leo sat down on the bed beside and took his wife's hand and kissed it. "I know, I know. Get some rest, you do look pretty rough," he smirked and then grimaced when he received a small slap on the shoulder for his comment. "I'm going to get some coffee, be back in a few minutes," he said. He placed a kiss on top of her head and then exited the room.

Piper turned to look in the crib once more and then lay back in the bed. She shuffled her position a number of times before she finally found a comfortable spot. _Hospital beds were always uncomfortable, _she thought to herself. Within minutes she was sound asleep and all that could be heard in the room where the gurgles coming from the baby in the crib and Piper's soft breathing.

Several minutes later Leo came back in with a coffee cup in one hand a bagel in the other. He smiled when he saw Piper silently sleeping, one hand placed over her forehead, the other placed on her stomach. She looked so peaceful. He placed the coffee and bagel down on the table and walked to the crib quietly. He reached down and lifted up the small bundle carefully and held her close to his chest. He began to rock her slowly and kissed her head. Melinda's eyes fluttered as Leo kissed her forehead and then she yawned once more.

"Are you tired, baby?" Leo whispered. He walked away from the crib and sat down in the rocking chair that was on the opposite side of the room. He used one foot to gently rock the chair and gazed down at his daughter. He began to talk to the baby and watched as she stared up at him. "It's been a long day, hasn't it? I know I am pretty tired and so is your Mommy. She went through a lot to bring you into this world and I love her very much for it. She's an amazing Mommy you'll love her; I know I do. Your Mommy's the lady who's sleeping. You can't see her though but she loves you very much. So do I. And so do your brothers who you saw a little while ago. And you have two aunts who already think the world of you." He continued to talk to her and the baby stared up at him, the occasional gurgle escaping from her mouth. Her facial expression showed that she appeared understand what Leo was saying to her, although Leo knew that was quite impossible. He then laughed softly. "Nothing's impossible in this family," he said and then looked down at her again. She yawned another gummy yawn and then sneezed softly. "You still tired, huh? Maybe I am boring you," he smiled softly. He stroked the baby's head with his free hand softly poked her nose. "No, that can't be it. Daddy couldn't bore you. Not yet at least. I'll have to wait a few more years for that." He continued to smile down at her and watched as her eyelids began to get heavy. "Your brothers are going to have a lot of fun with you, but if they bully you or tease you, you come straight to me and I'll sort them out, okay? We can't have them teasing you just because you're a girl." The tiny baby's eyelids slowly closed and this time they remained closed, signalling that she had fallen asleep. Leo placed another kiss on the baby's soft head and then leaned back into the wooden chair and gazed down at his sleeping baby girl. Yes, Melinda was definitely going to be a daddy's girl. He could feel it.

**And that was it. Ok, so it wasn't anything special but I wanted to try and do a small one-shot on Leo's feelings of having a daughter. I thought the idea of adding him talking to the baby was perfect. You see it in all the movies! Leave me a little review and let me know what you think, eh?!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Daddy's Girl  
**Author:** xhearttothee, otherwise known as Molly  
**Feedback:** Feedback is loved. Constructive criticism is welcomed; just don't make it too harsh!  
**Timeline: **March 2009

**Author's Note: **This story was originally a one-shot but after a few people asked me to continue on with this and write about certain life events in Melinda's life and Leo's thoughts on them, I decided to give it a go. This one is based on her first birthday.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Charmed, nor do I own any of the characters mentioned or involved.

* * *

The dining room table was laden with boxes of various sizes wrapped in pretty wrapping paper suitable for a one-year-old girl. Birthday decorations adorned ceilings and walls and paper plates sat in a pile on another table with party food. Playing in the background was a chorus of children's nursery rhymes, which seemed to play on a loop.

"Leo, did you make sure you put enough napkins out because with all these little kids and their sticky hands – "

"Piper, relax," Leo interjected. "I put out all the napkins you gave me and then some more. Everything will be fine. C'mon, it's just a first birthday party." He placed a strong hand on her shoulder to calm her down. His wife worried too much and had always been a perfectionist, but it was at times like these that those two things got the better of her. Even though it was only a first birthday party Piper couldn't just make a small amount of party food. Leo had told her that chips and dip would have been enough but Piper had snapped at him and gave him her famous line.

"Leo, I was a chef. I can't just do chips and dip," she had said. "Besides, some of the mom's are vegetarian so I have to provide food for them too, Leo." Leo had simply held his hands up in defence and smiled. He knew when to stop questioning his wife about certain things.

Leo smiled to himself at the memory and then rubbed Piper's shoulder with his hand.

"I know Leo but I want it to be go smoothly. She's only one once." Piper said and turned around to look at her husband.

"I know honey, but don't you think you're over doing it? I mean, there wasn't this much," Leo used his hands to indicate the amount of decorations in the room, "at the boys' first birthdays."

Piper glanced around the house and then hung her head and sighed. "I know, it's just that Melinda is our only girl and this is our last first birthday party. I wanted it to be special. And I know how silly that sounds. I shouldn't be materialising our children's birthdays but they're only small once and I wanted to treasure every minute." Piper sighed and then looked up at her husband who smiled at her.

"I understand what you mean but honey, it's going to be perfect no matter how many decorations are on the walls or how much food you make. It'll be perfect because it's our beautiful daughter's birthday party," Leo reasoned with Piper. He knew exactly what Piper was feeling because he felt the same. It was sad to know that this was the last time they'd throw a first birthday party for their children, as he knew they hadn't planned on having any more kids. But he also knew that there was no need to go overboard, just as his wife had been doing. But he also knew his wife and he knew that nothing was ever perfect enough for her.

Piper smiled up at her husband. He was always the voice of reason and knew exactly what to say to calm her down. It often annoyed her how calm he could remain in certain situations but she was also grateful because it was their opposite personalities that melted so well with each other; she was a worrier and a panicked a lot – he was a calm, levelheaded person who knew not to overreact.

"You're right. I guess I was trying too hard. I just wanted everything to be perfect. As always."

"But it's not a royal wedding," Leo joked and Piper gently slapped his arm. "I'm kidding," he said and then pulled her into a hug and she fell into his embrace with no questions. He kissed the top of her head and then pulled back and looked into her brown eyes. "You relaxed yet?"

Piper smirked. "Well, there are other ways of making me feel relaxed," she said as she reached up and planted a kiss on Leo's lips. She pulled back, their lips only millimetres apart, "but those will have to wait," she murmured against his lips and then kissed him once more. "Now, go upstairs and see if Melinda is awake. People will be arriving soon and it's no fun if the birthday girl is asleep."

Leo smiled at his wife and then made his way upstairs to the room they have made into Melinda's nursery. He gently opened the door and smiled widely when he saw Melinda standing up in her crib. She was holding on to the sidebars of the crib so tightly that her podgy knuckles were turning white. Her small, round face lit up the moment she saw Leo and she started to jump up and down, a gummy grin appeared on her face revealing several baby teeth.

"Looks like somebody's awake!" Leo said in a gleeful tone and Melinda replied with a happy squeal. "Yes, you are!" He cooed.

He walked over to the crib and Melinda raised her podgy arms up to Leo who grinned down at her. She had taken after Piper just as Leo had hoped; her big brown eyes were wide with excitement and her soft, brown curls bounced up and down just as she did. She wore a pink party dress with yellow trimmings and her white socks had matching yellow trimmings. Phoebe had bought her outfit as part of her birthday present and had told Piper to make her wear her for the party. Piper had happy obliged as she, just like her sister, melted the moment she saw it.

"Hello Mellie", Leo greeted his daughter and picked her out of the crib with ease. The moment she was safe in her dad's arms, Melinda pushed her chubby hands into Leo's cheeks and then erupted in a fit of delighted giggles.

"Are you poking Daddy's cheeks? Are you?" Leo cajoled and used his free hand to tickle her belly. Melinda once again erupted into giggles and then proceeded to poke Leo's cheeks again. "Let's go downstairs and see Mommy, huh?"

The toddler's eyes widened once more at the mention of 'Mommy' and she giggled with glee. "Mama!" She babbled and then laughed. She had only begun saying 'Mama' over the past two weeks and every time someone said 'Mommy' she blurted out a chorus of 'Mama' and then burst into fits of giggles.

"Yeah, Mama," Leo said and then smiled. He loved hearing her little voice. The first time she had spoken a proper word he had been filled with pride. He couldn't help feeling a little bit of a downer that her first word hadn't been 'Dada' but it still amazed him to hear her babble away. And he knew she'd say 'Dada' in her own time and he couldn't wait to hear those two syllables to escape her mouth. He made his way out of the nursery and Melinda continued to babble out loud and Leo replied every so often with loud "yes's" and "wow's".

* * *

The party had gone without a glitch just as Piper wanted it. Everyone adorned Melinda with hugs and kisses and even more presents. The little girl lapped up the attention, pouting slightly when all eyes were not on her. Although she was only a year old, she certainly knew how to get her own way when she wanted it. Piper blamed this on Leo. He had always spoiled her. Every time she had cried as a baby, Leo had rushed to her aid and soothed her, giving her everything he could imagine she wanted at that time. Piper had said that she had to learn to soothe herself but Leo had rolled his green eyes at her and said that it wasn't right to leave her crying for long lengths of time. "We did the exact same with Wyatt and Chris and at the time **you** were the one telling **me** not to rush at every sound they made," Piper had said, a smirk appearing on her delicate face. Leo had just shrugged in reply and then proceeded to go and soothe his upset daughter.

"Ugh," Piper sighed as she landed herself onto the couch beside Leo who was leaning his head against the back of the couch, his eyes closed and mouth twitching every so often.

"I know. I am wrecked," Leo said without opening an eye. He stifled a small yawn with the back of his hand.

"Do you want to move her or will I?" said Piper as she moved unconsciously closer to Leo's body and rested her head on his shoulder. She was referring to their slumbering daughter who was inside her playpen with her small thumb in her mouth and the other hand placed neatly beside her head, fingers twitching slightly. Leo placed his arm around Piper's shoulder and squeezed her slightly. Melinda had fallen asleep in Leo's arms a few hours ago but at the time they had been trying to clear everything up so they decided to just place her in the playpen for the time being. He opened his eyes to look at his daughter and thought of how cute she looked lying in the playpen in such a deep sleep.

"She was puffed out after a long day of being adored," he joked and then smiled. "Are the boys sleep?"

"Yep, finally. Chris fought it for a long time until he finally couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. That's the good thing about birthdays that revolve around cake and running around – it tires them out." Piper's eyelids closed slowly and she sighed.

"It would appear they tire us out as well," Leo joked.

"Old age does come with downsides," his wife said and gave a small laugh. She felt Leo get up from the sofa and she opened her eyes reluctantly. "Make sure you remove her dress and just leave her in her vest, she should be warm enough. It's getting hotter at night now." Leo simply nodded in reply and bent over the side of the playpen and gently lifted the slumbering toddler from the playpen. There were a few muffled moans and a few small cries from Melinda and then she settled her head on Leo's shoulder and placed her thumb back in her mouth. Leo headed up the staircase to Melinda's nursery and several minutes later Melinda was safely tucked up in her crib, a blanket placed around her small body and her thumb still stuck firmly in her mouth. Leo marvelled at the sight of his baby daughter sleeping so calmly in her crib. It had certainly been an interesting year with her around. It had taken the boys a few weeks to get used to having a baby in the house. Chris didn't understand why he couldn't hold her without his arms being support with several pillows. He couldn't understand why Piper and Leo were allowed to walk around carrying her, yet he had to remain seated and tightly packed between pillows. He also didn't understand why she didn't eat 'proper food' like everyone else did. "How can she be ok if she just drinks milk all the time?" He had asked and his question was a good question as no human being could live on just liquid alone, but Piper had tried to explain to him that babies couldn't eat solid foods because their little tummies couldn't handle it but Chris just said that was silly. Along with that question came another question that consisted of Chris asking why Piper fed Melinda from her breast and not from a bottle. Leo and Piper did their best to explain that to Chris but naturally he didn't understand and within a few weeks he had grown used to Piper nursing Melinda in the lounge instead of giving her a bottle.

Wyatt, however, adored his new baby sister. Leo often found him sitting beside her bassinette looking in at her and pulling unusual faces as he discovered this caused her to give him a gummy smile in return. He would place his hand into the bassinette and Melinda would hold one of his fingers in her tiny hand and gaze up at him with wonderment. He hadn't taken the fact that he and his brother were no longer the centre of attention as hard as Chris had. Chris didn't like the fact that Piper was always holding Melinda or feeding Melinda instead of sitting on the floor and playing with him whereas Wyatt was content with watching Piper wind Melinda or change Melinda's nappy and would often try to help Piper dress her.

Chris's opinion of Melinda quickly changed, however, when Melinda started to crawl. He found great amusement in tottering behind her pretending to chase her and crawling along side her on the floor and knocking down tower blocks that Wyatt so kindly put up for Melinda to knock down. When Melinda didn't like the fact that Chris knocked down the tower before her, he quickly said sorry and tried to kiss her podgy hand and then allowed Wyatt to put the blocks up again and clapped wildly when Melinda knocked them down with gusto.

Leo smiled at the eventful year they had had ever since the new edition had joined their family. And soon another new edition would be joining the Halliwell clan as recently Phoebe announced she and Coop were expecting a baby in October. He reached down and stroked Melinda's round cheek with the palm of his hand and watched as she took in a deep breath at the feel or movement on her cheek and then fell back into rhythmic breathing a moment later. He heard quiet footsteps coming up behind him and he turned around slowly in panic thinking it could have been a demon starting another attack on his family but thankfully it was only Piper.

"Hey," she whispered and came up beside him and looked into the crib and smiled. "You were taking your time and I was getting worried," she whispered once more and then looked up at Leo.

"Yeah, I was just watching her sleep," he replied in a whisper and smiled softly. Piper nodded and then turned around to look at Melinda once more. Leo wrapped his strong arms around her small torso and she leant back into his arms and they watched their daughter sleep soundly.


End file.
